Newly approved Mac App Store offering features 'Retina graphics'

A recently updated application approved for download in the Mac App Store is advertised as featuring "Retina graphics."

Version 2.0.4 of FolderWatch (iTunes link) was released on the Mac App Store on Friday. First discovered byThe Next Web, one of the new features of the latest update from developer Brothers Roloff is "Retina graphics."

It's unknown whether the developer was informed ahead of time about Retina displays expected to be coming to new Macs next week, or if Brothers Roloff simply assumed and prepared their application accordingly. FolderWatch was featured as an "Apple Staff Favorite" on the Mac App Store in June of 2011.

The update issued to the $11.99 application on Friday comes only days before Apple is scheduled to hold a keynote address on Monday, June 11, at the Moscone Center at 10 a.m. Pacific, 1 p.m. Eastern. AppleInsider revealed this week that Apple is expected to refresh its 15-inch MacBook Pro, 11- and 13-inch MacBook Airs, 21.5- and 27.-inch iMacs, and Mac Pros.

Rumors leading up to this year's WWDC event have claimed Apple will introduce a redesigned MacBook Pro with a thinner form factor and new high-resolution Retina display, just like the pixel packing screens already found on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Reports have also claimed that the iMac will be receiving an upgrade to a Retina display.

Since last year, rumors have persisted claiming that Apple was working on a Retina Display laptop. Offering further evidence to a possible Retina Display MacBook are the latest OS X Lion updates which brought Hi-DPI UI assets in 10.7.3 and doubled icon resolution in 10.7.4.

Some icons featured in the latest version of Lion quietly feature new double-resolution 1,024-by-1,024-pixel icons, including TextEdit, App Store and LaunchPad. However, not all applications have seen their icons grow beyond 512 by 512 pixels.

Or it could be this developer is an avid reader of Appleinsider, or Macrumors, or other Apple rumor sites and blogs, and read about retina graphics rumors coming to the Macs..

That's what I suspect. Rumor has it that the reviewers scan for private APIs and other reasons to auto reject an app and take it on trust that your info is truthful, your app doesn't crash and you have all the proper copyrights.

IF there had been anything in the ML developer previews to tell them to do this that information would have been all over the blogs 20 times over by now.

This is great news for consumers. It confirms the new Macs are getting Retina displays.

No it doesn't. It confirms that one app developer thinks they are. That's all.

Not only is he guessing that there will be Retina displays he's guessing the quality of the displays to make his graphics. This isn't like an iPhone or an iPad which has a single resolution, you can have several for a computer, which one will they double up to 'go Retina' and what density will that be. He could be assuming they will just double the highest possible density for any iMac and made his files to suit that, which might be what they do or they might have several based on each model.

No it doesn't. It confirms that one app developer thinks they are. That's all.

Not even that. As someone suggested, it could be simply a PR stunt. The developer might see it as a way to get publicity for his app whether Apple releases a retina display or not. I certainly never heard of that app before - and I suspect that lots of people are finding out about it for the first time today.

After all, if Apple fails to do so, most people will blame Apple and dozens of analysts will swear up and down that Apple pulled it at the last minute - and the developer gets sympathy on top of free publicity.

"I'm way over my head when it comes to technical issues like this"Gatorguy 5/31/13